8 Ways to Get Out of Your Cell Phone Contract Without Paying Early Termination Fees

Cell phone contracts are slowly on the way out, but for the time being there are still millions of people who deal with them.

If you are trying to break your cell phone contract without paying early termination fees then this guide will help you get this done.

In defense of the major cell carriers, these contracts were pretty much a necessary evil.  In order to be able to subsidize the cost of the cell phones, they had to have some sort of guarantee that people would continue to purchase service.  Now that they are starting to have people actually pay for the phone the contracts are being phased out.  This isn’t going to happen quickly because so many people cannot afford the phone they want and are willing to sign an agreement to get that phone.

Ways to End Your Cell Phone Contract Without Paying Early Termination Fees

I found eight ways you can use to get out of that contract without the extra fees.  There are probably more that require being a little more shifty, but you should be able to find one that works for you in this list.

The T-Mobile Contract Buyout

The option to have another carrier buy out your contract used to be REALLY popular among the big four carriers.  Today, however, only one carrier has decided to continue the practice.  That carrier is T-Mobile.

Not only is T-Mobile the only carrier that offers an ongoing program to buyout your contract, they will pay the fees for up to 10 lines.  They have also switched their service to where there are no contracts.  With each line you transfer you can get a Visa gift card for up to $350 in ETF.  That’s 10 lines and up to $350 per line.  On top of that they will issue you a credit based on the value of your current devices. That is a pretty generous offer to get you to switch over.

Here is what you have to do to take advantage of the T-Mobile buyout offer:

Go to this offer on their website

• Transfer your phone number
• Once you enter your order number and phone number print the shipping label to send in your device (postage paid woohoo!).
• Trade-In your current devices within 14-days of the purchase of your new phones
• Submit the last bill that your old carrier sends you, this should include the ETF.  You have two calendar months to submit the final bill to T-mobile from the point in time that you transfered your number.
• Enjoy your new phone and new service.

It really is a pretty simple process, because the T-mobile contract buyout policy lays it all out so cleanly as you go through it.

Trade Your Contract

Cell phone companies make it reasonably easy to transfer your service to someone else, with some restrictions to keep people from committing identity theft.  The easiest way is to find someone locally, but if your contract is that atrocious then you will probably have to do a wider search for someone willing to take the reins.  For that I recommend trying an online service called CellSwapper.  This service allows you to put your contract out there for others to agree to take it over.  If that service doesn’t work then try CellTrade, they are the other big contract trader.

Break Your Contract with Customer Service

Complaining to the company on a consistent basis does actually work.  If nothing else you can get service credits.  You have to be polite and understand that the first person you talk to in customer service frequently has almost no power to grant any requests.  This means having to escalate the problem to a manager.  While this takes even more time, they will keep a record of your calls and complaints.  Over time they will realize things are going south. You might want to mention the BBB or FTC every once in a while to get them moving in the right direction.

Go Social

If customer service is a dead end then start complaining on social media.  Twitter has become the go to place to get your complaints heard.  All major companies are now monitoring social media to see what is going on and try to fix customer complaints before they go viral.  Nobody wants a repeat of the “United Breaks Guitars” song.  Make sure to tag the main company account when you do post your complaint.  That will get their attention quickly.

Watch Out for Contract Changes

Cell phone providers change your contract from time to time. They are required to provide you a notification of the new terms and you have a period of time to cancel your service before or after the contract is changes.

Have you ever heard someone tell you to always check your bills?  This is why.  The notification for these types of changes is buried somewhere deep inside your billing notice and is usually in a font so small that a smurf would have problems reading it.

Check the Grace Period to See How Long You have to Break a Contract

If you have just signed up for new service, then there should be some sort of grace period to try out the service.  Way back when I worked for Sprint the grace period was 14 days.  Each carrier is going to be different so make sure you ask the rep before signing the contract and walking out with your phones.

Freeze or Downgrade Your Account

This is another method where you are going to lose your phone number, at least in the short-term.  Most providers will let you freeze your account if you are going to be out of the country or for any reason at all.  This means that the account stays with the current carrier and they hold your phone number hostage.  If you aren’t emotionally attached to the number, or have something cool like 867-5309, then you can pretty much just leave it frozen.

If you are in the Military and getting deployed, they should let you cancel your contract no questions asked.  If not, go back up to the social media recommendation and start a firestorm.  That will get them moving in the right direction.

Fake Your Death

I don’t recommend this one because the complexity of faking your own death is pretty extreme.  Plus, if you follow what we recommend on this site, you will have a life insurance policy that will cash out.  Insurance fraud is a pretty big deal, don’t do that.

Early Termination Fees by Major Carrier

If you aren’t sure how much your fees might be here is a quick guide for fees from the four major carriers.

Verizon Wireless Early Termination Fee

Verizon is the biggest of the wireless carriers so they seem to be able to afford being more punitive.  They have a $175 early termination fees for all devices, but if you have an “Advanced Device” then the fee is $350.  If you just signed up for your contract you have 14 days to return the phone without paying the big fees, but a $35 restocking fee will be assessed.  If you miss your two week window, they do knock of $10 per month from the Verizon cancellation fee for every month you keep the service.

AT&T Early Termination Fee

As the second largest company, AT&T charges the second largest termination fee.  Similar to Verizon, you pay $150 ETF for regular devices, hotspots, and tablets, but $325 if you are cancelling your smartphone plan.  And you still get $10 off per month that you keep the contract.  You also get 14 days to cancel your contract without incurring the AT&T cancellation fee. You may get a restocking fee of up to $45.

Sprint Early Termination Fee

I used to work for sprint more than 10 years ago and had service with them for more than 15 years.  As with everything else, Sprint like to make things complicated by backing into your fees.  You pay $20 per month for every month that is left on your contract with a maximum of $350 and a minimum of $100 per device.  So if you have a two year contract and keep the phone for 12 months, your Sprint cancellation fee will be $240.  The bad news is that the cost of getting out of the contract with one month left is the same as with five months left.

Sprint also works on a 14-day return policy and they have a $35 restocking fee for phones and $75 for netbooks, notebooks, and tablets.

T-Mobile Early Termination Fee

There is no longer a T-Mobile cancellation fee for you service.  They did this by separating the way you pay for the phone from the wireless service. So while you can cancel your service at any time, if you decided to take advantage of paying in installments for the phone, you will have to pay the remainder of the price of the phone if you cancel your service.

To give you an example, let’s say you buy a $650 phone and choose the 24-month payment option.  That means you will pay just over $27 a month.  After six months you decide T-Mobile wasn’t for you and cancel.  They will then charge you the remaining $487.50 you have not yet paid for the phone.  While this isn’t an ETF it is a way to keep you connected to them in order to get the latest and greatest technology.

That being said, you can buy your own phone outright.  You can even bring your own device if it is unlocked and they will activate it in the store with no problem.  Then you don’t have to worry about any fees other than your monthly bill and can cancel at any time.

Conclusion

The cell carriers that still have contracts are going to continue to make it difficult to get avoid the contract cancellation fee. What is good news is that with data getting cheaper and cheaper the companies are not as financially motivated to do these deals.  As time goes on I expect that contract service for wireless providers will fade away and we will all pay full price for our wireless phones, just like people transitioned to paying for their home phones.